Moving the mail might seem mundane, but
there was a time when it couldn't be done
without daring young men in flying machines.

The airplane had proved its value in World
War I, but most sober adults probably would
have balked at the offer of a joy ride in
1920. The engine was still a work in
progress, and too many planes had a tendency
to plant themselves face-first in a field.

Officials at the U.S. Postal Service felt
differently. They envisioned the airplane as
the workhorse of a new era in high-speed
mail service.

They had tried to get Congress interested in
funding aerial mail delivery since 1912, but
lawmakers felt there were better ways to
burn money.

Congress finally gave the go-ahead in 1918
for an experimental route between New York
and Washington, D.C. The experiment
succeeded, so postal officials set up the
first legs of a coast-to-coast delivery
system - New York to Cleveland and Cleveland
to Chicago. These were followed in 1920 by
the opening of western aerial divisions,
anchored from an Omaha hub.
J. Tinus Christensen was among the first
crop of airmail pilots. Born in Denmark, he
came to America with his parents at age 4.
They settled in the Danish community of
Blair, where he grew up.
Christensen served as a military flight instructor
during World War I. He mustered out in 1919
and hired on with the aviation mail service
in early 1920. He was one of the first to
fly the Omaha-Chicago route, which was based
at a field on the Ak-Sar-Ben grounds.
Flying the mail in 1920 proved dangerous. Pilots had no
radio contact and no instruments for flying
in bad weather. According to the late Bob
Adwers, who wrote a book about flying in
Nebraska, 31 of the first 40 pilots hired by
the post office died in the line of duty.
Christensen was considered among the best of the
airmail pilots. An experienced stunt flier,
he had a keen sense of the winds aloft. He
set speed records for the Omaha-Chicago and
Chicago-New York mail runs.
Popular among other fliers, he helped to found
the Associated Airmail Pilots union, and was
elected its president.
Christensen transferred to another hub before the
first coast-to-coast airmail flight passed
through Omaha in the middle of a winter
night in 1921. He transferred to Chicago a
few months later and made his first flight
on the Chicago-Cleveland route on a foggy
April morning.
On his approach to Cleveland, he got lost
in the fog and had to fly low over the city
in search of landmarks. Then the engine on
his DeHaviland biplane sputtered, and
Christensen was forced to land in the
downtown area. He aimed for the river to
avoid pedestrians. His plane crashed and
burst into flames on the railroad tracks
beside the Cuyahoga River.
An estimated 10,000 people showed up for
his burial service in Blair and watched as
planes from the Omaha airmail division
dropped flowers.
Christensen was buried as a hero, and his
grave was marked with a giant airplane prop.
He was honored for what he was - one of a
small band of daredevils who landed in
history at just the right time, a time when
they could risk their lives for the thrill
of being among the first on earth to fly.

The Washington
Post ran the following story on the
crash.

SHUNS
STREET LANDING; BURNS IN MAIL airplane
Pilot Avoids Risk of Killing People – Drops
on Railroad Tracks in Cleveland.
CLEVELAND, April 29.—Rather than attempt a
landing in a street and thus endanger the
lives of many persons, J. T. Christensen of
Chicago, air mail pilot, sacrificed his life
today when he was forced to seek a landing
in downtown Cleveland because of engine
trouble.

Unable to see because of a heavy fog, the
pilot fell 200 feet to the Erie Railroad
tracks at Scranton and University Roads and
was buried beneath the wreckage of his
machine. He was burned to death when the
gasoline tank exploded, setting fire to the
debris.

Christensen was making his first trip on the
Chicago-Cleveland route, having left Chicago
this morning. He was recently transferred to
that division from the Cleveland-New York
route. He held three speed records.

James Tinus
Christensen,
(1890-1921)
J.T. Christensen was one of aviation’s first
heroes. Born in Denmark, he came to this country
with his parents at the age of four. They
settled in Blair, Nebraska where he grew up and
attended Dana College before World War I. During
that war he was a military flight instructor.
Then in 1920 he hired on with the U.S. Postal
Service’s new airmail delivery.
Buried in the Blair Cemetery
(Block: 85 Lot: 8 Grave: 8) on 5/4/1921 Age: 31

April 30, 1921,
Plain-Dealer Forced to seek a landing in downtown Cleveland by engine
trouble and unable to see because of a dense fog, Air Mail Pilot J.T.
Christensen (James Tinus) yesterday afternoon sacrificed his life rather than
attempt a landing in a street -- a course which would have endangered the lives
of many people. Facing death, he struggled for fifteen minutes to find a
landing place before the crash scene.

James Tinus Christensen

The pilot fell 200 feet to
the Erie railroad tracks at Scranton and University roads S.W., almost under
Central viaduct. His airplane was reduced to a mass of tangled wreckage, the
gasoline tank exploded and the fire which followed burned the pilot's body,
caught under the debris.

Christensen, his engine
missing, searched back and forth over the southern portion of Cleveland for a
vacant lot in which to land. He flew low, barely missing the tops of some
buildings. Many person stood on the street and watched. They said his engine
seemed to be missing, and to the observers it was evident he was in straits.

Once he skirted over a
vacant lot into which he might have dropped, but did not see it because of the
fog. He tried once to rise, but was unable to attain enough altitude to allow
him to continue the search.

When he was directly over
the Cuyahoga river he flew upstream, presumably intending to drop into the
river, but Central viaduct suddenly loomed ahead and he was forced to return.

Trapped between Central
viaduct and the high level bridge, he circled upstream once more, flying at the
height of the viaduct until suddenly his engine appeared to fall entirely and he
fell, the plane striking on its nose among the piles alongside the railway
tracks.

Misses River by 25 FeetAviators say that if he had
dropped into the river, twenty-five feet away, his life would have been saved.

The aviator's battle for
life was watched by hundreds who were attracted by the roaring of the motor.

His flying mates, who
declare he was one of the most skillful of air mail pilots, say that in the fog
he could not have been able to see beyond 200 feet.

Unable to get his engine
to run properly, they declare, he was forced to look for a way out of his
difficulty.

The only paths open were
to attempt a street landing, with great danger to vehicles and lives, to find a
vacant lot, an attempt which he made and failed in, or to drop into the river.
They say that he was trying to descend into the river, feeling his way in the
fog, when the crash came.

Christensen was making his
first trip on the Chicago to Cleveland route. He was transferred recently to
that division from the Cleveland to New York route.

He told friends when he
was transferred that it was exactly the assignment he wanted. The plane he was
flying was a converted De Haviland.

...Christensen was 31
years old. His home was in Maywood, Chicago, but he maintained a room with Carl
Krumhar.

...He was well known here,
having flown at the first aerial tournament held in Cleveland at Woodland Hills
park, Aug. 15 to Aug. 25, 1919.

He married two years ago
in Cleveland Miss Lena Davis. He met Miss David while she was attending Dana
College, Blair, Neb. The couple took an airplane honeymoon trip from Cleveland
to Akron and other Ohio cities.

Mrs. Christensen is
visiting relatives in Nebraska and no one was at home at the little cottage near
the Maywood air field in Chicago when reporter called there last night.

The
dead aviator was one of the best flyers in the service, heads of the mail flying
department said. He held three speed records.

On Dec. 30, 1920, he
startled the commercial flying world by taking mail from Chicago to New York,
741 miles, in five hours and thirty-one minutes, averaging 117 miles an hour
from Chicago to Cleveland and 151 miles an hour from Cleveland to New York.
Another record was established when he flew a De Haviland from Omaha to Chicago
in two hours and forty-five minutes.

Knew Air CurrentsChristensen's speed supremacy
in the air mail service lay, according to officials, in his knowledge of winds.
He knew that the winds varied at different altitudes and always jockeyed up and
down until he found the most favorable current.

He was taught to fly at
the old Curtiss flying school at Norfolk, Virginia, before the war. When the
war broke out he joined the army as a civilian instructor and was sent to
Gerstner field, Lake Charles, LA. He later was given the rank of second
lieutenant and became instructor in stunt flying at which he was expert.

After three years in the
army he was discharged in the spring of 1919 and did civilian flying at Erie
Beach, Erie, Pa. He came to Cleveland to fly at the Woodland Hills tournament
and then joined the mail service.

He flew on the
Chicago-to-Omaha division, then was transferred to the Cleveland-New York route
and recently to the Cleveland-Chicago route.